I was enjoying dinner so well I forgot to take a picture of the meal until I'd already started chowing down.

Sweet potatoes are good for far more than the (in my opinion) sickeningly sweet sweet potato casseroles drowned in brown sugar and marshmallows many of us grew up on. Here’s an easy, weeknight sweet potato dish I made on Tuesday that went pretty fast, was extremely inexpensive to put together, and was absolutely delicious.

My friend Shara, who I had over for dinner, liked it so much that she asked for a copy of the recipe. One other guest who partook of leftovers gave it a big thumbs up. It’s vegan and gluten-free, but you’d never know it from tasting it. It’s again out of Betty Crocker’s Vegetarian Cooking (1 ed. — there’s a new ed. out now that may not have it). The great thing about this cookbook is it gives optional meat additions for families where some are vegetarian and some are not. You can just divide your recipe in half if necessary, or add the meat in at the end for the carnivores. This recipe has such an option.

The setup for West African Sweet Potato Supper

I chose this recipe because I was looking for ways to use (yet more!) sweet potatoes that had gone on sale for 79 cents a pound at King Soopers. It caught my attention because it incorporates the rich flavor, protein, and good fats (primarily poly- and mono-unsaturated) of peanut butter with the protein and fiber of beans (I subbed black beans for the great northerns because I thought they would be prettier) and colorful tomatoes, sweet potatoes, and corn. There’s also some wonderful ginger and chili powders thrown in, with a little bit of cayenne for kick. Add it to taste, especially if you are heat-sensitive.

Jen’s version: I made a half recipe, because it supposedly serves 6. Even at half size, this recipe made enough food to feed an army. I’ve already had three meals from it (including 5 total servings so far), and it looks like I’ll get at least 3 more. I didn’t want to halve a can of corn, so I used about 3/4 c. frozen. As for the beans, I just threw the whole can in and figured it’d work out. I found that one large sweet potato yielded the requisite two cups of cubed sweet potato. Sadly, I did not notice the tip about peeling the sweet potato (see below) until AFTER I’d availed myself of the vegetable peeler. C’est la vie.

The finished product in situ

Since I had some leftover cilantro in my fridge, I threw that on as a garnish. That proved a good move (although check with your guests/family; some people think cilantro tastes like Joy dish soap). Finally, to top it all off, I made coconut rice using some leftover coconut milk that I had frozen. More on that in a subsequent post. The rich peanut flavor coupled with the tropical coconut of the rice made this dish really satisfying.

West African Sweet Potato Supper

Notes from Betty: To make peeling the sweet potatoes easier, microwave potatoes on High for two minute first. For a nice color contrast, try a can of black beans instead of the great northern beans.